I don't know if this has been gone over here before, but I saw a quote in Time today at the doctors office that almost made me wet myself. A lady who had lost her husband in the accidents responded something like "This is a sick joke. I think I'm going to throw up..." in response to the news that she might get 1.5 million dollars. 1.5 million dollars!?!?! That makes her sick!?!?! So how much do you think is appropriate as far as what the survivors should get dollar wise
I saw a segment of a TV show (might have been dateline but it was one of those) and they interviewed a guy (an american citizin as was his wife) with two kids who lost his wife in one of the embassy attacks in Africa and he was kind of upset b/c he felt like they were being abbandoned and they only got like maybe $60,000 or something. So I think they should get the same the embassy bombing victims got. I'm not against giving them a nice sum of money but I think the embassy victims should get the same. And what about Oklahoma City and those federal workers, it was domestic terrorism then but was it really any different?
I think the government is trying to prevent bankruptcy of the airline carriers involved in the crash. I remember hearing slight details of waivers to be signed, and so on, to get this money. And you know who wins if the US allows attorneys to suck 33-50% out of the awards right? I do think 1.5 million is kinda way overboard. Even at 6%, they could live off 90K a year for the rest of their life without touching the principal, or throw it into a immeidate income retirement annuity and receive roughly arround $100K a year for the rest of their life.
Make the Kirkuk oilfields a US possession. Give the victims a premium from the proceeds of that "discovery". That way, they are rich for the rest of their lives, Turkey is pleased, Saddam will fall, we can pull our troops out of the Gulf, and we can tell the Saudis to go f*k themselves. Oh, and we're self-sufficient in terms of energy again. Kill 6 birds with one stone. But our leadership would never have the stones to do that...
I hate to be insensitive, but should they get anything. These things happen to regular people every day. They are forced to struggle. They are forced to survive on next to nothing. What makes this tradgedy any different? Don't these people have life insurance policies? I know the government is trying to protect the airline industry, but the airline indiustry should be immune in the case of terrorism. The government should force the airlines to tighten up security and they have. What more can you do? This was just an act of insanity. I'm not against these people getting money, I just think it should come from other sources.
I am not positive but I think that the survivors cannot get anything from life insurance because there is a clause that says you are not covered if you are killed by an act of terrorism. Do we have any insurance gurus here that can confirm or deny this?
tree: No matter how hard you try, the thread will still be about HOW MUCH THE RELATIVES OF WTC VICTIMS SHOULD GET, not how we can screw over Sadaam or Saudi or whatever. Let's stay on topic, shall we?
accidents? those were accidents??? please, out of respect for those that died, do not consider the horrific events of 9/11 as a freakin' accident. rH
WTC Victims Decry Compensation Fund By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Several dozen family members of World Trade Center victims and four members of Congress on Sunday called for revisions to the interim rules governing the federal victims' compensation fund. ``It would be terrible if the families of those victims were to be victimized again by the regulations that are being enacted by the special master,'' Rep. Peter King said at a news conference. Special Master Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer appointed to oversee the government fund, said he hoped to address the concerns. Under the rules announced by Feinberg on Dec. 20, the compensation that family members receive would depend on the victim's family size, age and earnings. Feinberg has said that the average family would receive about $1.6 million. The regulations give the family of each victim $250,000 for non-economic losses such as pain and suffering. Life insurance and pension fund payments would be subtracted from the awards, but charitable contributions would not. ``We're talking about a $250,000 cap,'' said Rep. Felix Grucci, a Republican. ``You could slip and fall on the sidewalk as you walk out of here - and I'm not suggesting that anybody do that - but probably earn more on a slip-and-fall claim than these people will get for losing their loved ones.'' Relatives who apply to the fund would largely give up their right to sue. Beverly Eckert said she was on the phone with her husband, Sean Rooney, who worked at Aon Corp. in the south tower of the World Trade Center, for the last half-hour of his life until the tower collapsed. ``This is about fairness,'' Eckert said. ``We're here because the figure that Special Master Kenneth Feinberg selected for pain and suffering in no way represents what the people who died went through.'' When asked about the $250,000 award for pain and suffering, Feinberg said, ``We're reviewing all the regulations. I am concerned that there are families of the victims who are troubled by this.'' Feinberg has until Jan. 21 to finalize the rules. -= Victims' Compensation Fund: http://www.usdoj.gov/victimcompensation
Hmm, don't the differences lie in the negligence involved here? The victims of 9/11 could rightfully and probably successfully sue the airlines, the airports, the FAA, the security companies, etc. I don't think that was nearly the case in the OKC bombing or the first WTC bombing or even the embassy bombings. There was an absurd amount of negligence involved in allowing 9/11 to happen.
